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Stop Net-and-Bolt Deer Control

January 05, 2007 | Hunting & Wildlife Management / Deer

Your attention needed to help stop net-and-bolt deer control proposals in Millburn and throughout New Jersey.

"Net and bolt" means trapping deer under nets, then attempting to restrain them, pressing a captive-bolt gun against their heads, and firing a retractable steel rod into their brains. The deer may struggle and kick, fracturing limbs or sustaining other injuries. Deer who move as the bolt is fired can be painfully wounded, not killed, and the struggle continues until additional shots are fired.

Stress may be so acute as to cause the death of some of the deer prior to bolting.

The reasons given for considering this? A burgeoning deer population has been cited as a problem in New Jersey. But in the absence of violent or artificial manipulation, deer will adjust to food sources and available shelter to create a natural balance. On the other hand, killing is cyclical.

Suitably tall fencing offers the most effective way to keep deer away from places of concern; and road accidents involving deer can be addressed with well-maintained roadway reflectors.

Net-and-bolt deer control is unreasonable, ineffective, and grotesque, and we are urging its immediate prohibition.

A special note to New Jersey residents, any of you who travel to New Jersey and thus support the state with your business, and veterinary professionals who can offer expert comments:

Please write to the New Jersey DEP Commissioner and the Governor. Politely but firmly advise them that this practice should not even be contemplated by the Fish & Game Department of New Jersey, let alone approved by it. Request an immediate ban on net-and-bolt deer control in Millburn and throughout New Jersey. Comments received any time in January 2007 will be especially helpful. Thank you for supporting the deer by writing today to:

Comments

Submitted by Terry Patton on Sun, 2007-01-21 18:36

I LIVE IN UPPER BUCKS CO., PA - 3 MILES FROM NJ. UNTIL 3 YEARS AGO WHEN DEVELOPING CAME IN, I COULD LOOK OUT MY WINDOW AND SEE DEER, FAWN AS SMALL AS RABBIT. AS THEY GREW THEY WOULD JUMP AND PLAY IN MY POND WITH THE FROGS. I COULD DESCRIBE THE EXPERIENCE AS IF ONE WERE TO SEE A UNICORN. NOW DEVEOLOPERS HAVE MOVED INTO THIS QUAINT AREA DESTROYING THE NATURAL HABITAT. THE FAMILIES THAT HAVE MOVED HERE SEE DEER --DEER TICKS -- LYME DISEASE -- KILL THE WILDLIFE. HUMANS ARE THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE ANIMAL TO EVER LIVE ON PLANET EARTH. PS KILL OFF THE DEER AND THE TICKS WILL ONLY HAVE HUMANS TO EAT!
THE PAST 3 YEARS HAVE BEEN OPEN SEASON ON LAND, AND ALL WILDLIFE -- INCLUDING FAWNS!

All Of this cruelty to all animals has to stop?? What is wrong with the United States?? All they do is kill animals.Lyme disease, car crashes are all excuses. Now Milan Bull the CT audubon society (he was for the killing of the monk Parakeets) Now is eyeing up feral cats for killing birds, and other birds as they cause a mess . Killing innocent animals is not the answer. And it should not be so "Easily" allowed just because of Political connections . Or the head of the DEP, or audubon or whatever else decides Lets get rid of them as they are in our way, or are ruining things. The animals/wildlife are not ruining anything. Its the people who love to kill innocent animals that ruin this world. STOP PLAYING GOD they(all animals/wildlife)have a right to be here as much as we do. ITS THEIR WORLD TO!! Stop playing like the Nazis with the horrific idea of deer killing with NET and Bolt. How disgusting!!

I am appalled that this course of action is being taken to get rid of the supposed "over abundance" of deer in those areas. As you all may know, the townships that are going through with netting and bolting have some of the highest annual incomes in the area. They can surely afford a more humane way ridding their beautiful gardens (that are most-likely being maintained by someone working well over 40hours of strenuous physical labor per week and getting paid garbage for it)of the deer problem. Stop building shopping malls and mansions in what used to be wooded areas. Invest in some deer repellant for your gardens. Or, better yet, move out of suburbia!

I am an animal lover, and was astounded and delighted to see a deer in our semi-suburban area neighborhood about seven years ago. We now have a herd of about fifteen to twenty of them roaming the roads and yards, and they're starving. With all their ribs showing, the animals are now eating anything they can find. One nursery owner told me, "it's like liver. You may hate eating it, but if you're starving, you have no choice." Can you imagine any animal trying to eat a blue spruce tree? The deer in our neighborhood browse on blue spruce. They have no choice. They have decimated all of the plants, trees, weeds and shrubbery available, and have little else left except what they're forced to consume.
Anyone who says nothing should be done about the exploding deer population in NJ apparently is not bothered by the sight of these pathetic looking animals desperately searching for food. Nor do they seem to mind that the areas with many deer do indeed have much higher rates of Lyme disease. Check the literature, I did, after my husband had Lyme twice, and our dog developed it three times. We almost lost her, as she was lethargic and extremely ill with a 106.5 degree fever when we rushed her to the veterinary hospital. (Incidentally, the black legged deer tick is now carrying the tick disease ehrlichiosis as well. Google this one)
Deer are beautiful animals, but the sight of them starving is not, and being such large hosts for ticks, the spread of disease is now a public health issue. The reality of the what must be done to control the deer population is sad, but doing nthing is far worse.
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